Pets

Murphy

Murphy is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, born in BC and raised on Vancouver Island. He often visits the lab office to advise on our ongoing projects, and to nap. His interests include swimming, sticks, and snacks. He is not a fan of skateboards or cats, and is a little upset by the number of felines sharing this page with him.

Nikita

Nikita is a friendly (but sassy) tortie cat adopted from the SPCA in Victoria. Her favourite things include fuzzy blankets and canned food- do not open a can of beans around Nikita, as she will get very upset that it is not for her. She is also strongly of the opinion that laps are for her to sit on, NOT for laptops, and she routinely makes contributions to experimental plans and manuscripts by stepping on her mom’s keyboard.

Goose

Goose is a Canada-wide traveller born in Chatham Ontario, and moved to Victoria at the ripe age of 1. Using food as an incentive, he does a myriad of tricks including sit and high-five. He enjoys lounging in grocery bags and baskets where he can deposit optimal amounts of fun on clean pieces of clothing and groceries. Goose loves a variety of snacks including rouge pieces of popcorn and frozen blueberries. Most recently, he has enjoyed leisurely toilet bowel swims, until he learned the meaning of biosafety-level baths.

Mabel

Mabel is a St. Bernard and Lab mixed breed and epitomizes the term “gentle giant”. She was born in British Columbia and moved to Newfoundland before her first birthday to advise her mom in grad school.

After a successful couple of years befriending anyone and anything that crossed her path on the Atlantic Coast, Mabel decided to try her luck on the Pacific Coast and embarked on a road trip across Canada where she is continuing her role as grad-student advisor.

Mabel loves to play keep-away, enjoys the unbridled joy of a good stick (chewing or chasing, she’s not particular), and understands the importance of a good snuggle session.

Clarence

Clarence is a Golden Retriever born and raised on Vancouver Island. With a goofy personality and a love for meeting new people, he’s always the first to greet visitors. His favourite pastimes include fishing for minnows, squirting geoducks, and diving for rocks at the beach.

When he’s not making friends, Clarence enjoys playing with his feline brother and trying to secure as many scratches as possible.